| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Encyclopaedia Judaica |
| Editors | Michael Berenbaum, Fred Skolnik |
| Place of Publication | Detroit, MI |
| Publisher | Macmillan Reference |
| Pages | 711-712 |
| Volume | 3 |
| Edition | 2nd |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9780028660974 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9780028659282 |
| State | Published - 2007 |
Abstract
BIRKAT HA-MINIM (Heb. בִּרְכַּת הַמִּינִים, "benediction concerning heretics"), the twelfth benediction of the weekday Amidah (the Shmoneh Esreh prayer). The benediction belongs to the latter part of the Amidah petitions, which beseech the redemption of the people of Israel. Worded more like an imprecation (see Tanḥuma [Buber ed.], Vayikra 3), in its invocation of divine wrath against internal enemies to Jewish integrity and against external enemies of the Jewish people, it differs from the other petitions.